by B M Griffin
Copyright
Aurora is a work of fiction. All names, characters, locations, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
AURORA: A NOVEL
Copyright © 2018 by B. M. Griffin
All rights reserved.
Cover design by KP Designs
Published by Kingston Publishing Company
The uploading, scanning, and distribution of this book in any form or by any means—including but not limited to electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without the permission of the copyright holder is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized editions of this work, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.
Table of Contents
Copyright
Table of Contents
Dedication
Acknowledgements
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Epilogue
About B.M. Griffin
Dedication
This book is dedicated to a few of the strongest women I know. To my mom-Julie for being a mom when she didn’t have to be, and for being amazing at it-I miss you. To my mom for being there even when I’m crazy and even when you have to fight your own pain to help ease mine. To my mom-in-law, Wendy, because I really lucked out and got the best one in the history of all creation-I miss you, too. To Mandy Lou because you are stronger than you ever know, and I will always look up to you and love you my friend. To these beautiful women, these warriors, because their fight has taught me what true strength looks like.
Acknowledgements
Thank you to everyone who has joined me in my journey, listened to my ramblings, read and shared my books and stories, and encouraged me to pursue my dream.
Chapter One
Aurora
“Aurora, I want to stay with you. You need to find me.”
He reached his hand out to caress her cheek, and Aurora didn’t flinch away. She was captivated by him. His eyes were drawing her in. They were the most beautiful blue she’d seen in all her years, a cross between blue and violet that seemed to shine like a gem. His jet-black hair that framed his face, made his bright eyes pop. And, when he spoke, Aurora felt his call touch a part of her soul that had been asleep for centuries.
“Aurora, there’s no time to waste. Find me, my love.”
Aurora jerked awake. Leaning against her headboard, she rubbed her face with her hands. This was the fifth night in a row she’d had the same dream, and it was becoming more difficult to ignore the fact that it was much more than that. The Council was going to be pissed when she told them what she had to do. Human interaction was outlawed decades ago. She didn’t know what could be so important about some human male, but the fates were clearly telling her something. Rubbing her hand over her chest, Aurora could still feel him, like he was a part of her. No vision had ever been so real. It was like the male had reached through the vision, and into reality and left his mark on her.
A knock at her door had Aurora out of bed and on her feet in a split second. Annalise opened the door and let herself in. She had her hand over her mouth, covering a yawn, and when she noticed the fighter’s stance Aurora had taken, she rolled her eyes.
“Really, sis, you gonna attack me now?” Annalise was laying the sarcasm on thick. “If someone’s going to attack anyone here, it should be me putting you down. You’ve woken me up every night this week. You need to deal with this vision before we both lose our minds from sleep deprivation.”
Aurora walked over to the large open window that looked out over her realm. Tanzahar was a sight to behold. Unlike the human world, Aurora’s people appreciated the beauty of natural stone and used it when they constructed their homes and buildings throughout the realm. They respected the plant and animal life around them and the result was purely breathtaking. There was green as far as her eys could see. Trees that were so lush and tall they blanketed the creatures below them, keeping the safe from the dangers that might fly overhead. Straight out in the distance was the grandest waterfall in all of Tanzahar, and the world for that matter. Its water was blue, and when you were there you could see straight through to the bottom; see all the colorful creatures that lived within. She lived her whole life in Tanzahar, and the view still captivated her. It was one of the things she fought to preserve, and a part of what kept her denying her vision of the human male night after night. Humans would destroy her world if they knew of its existence. If they knew of Aurora and her people they would destroy them too… well, Aurora thought, they would try.
Aurora glanced at her sister. “How can I seek out one of them when they would see all of this,” she stopped and waved her hands around indicating their world, “and destroy all of us and our existence? To them, we are evil. Just creatures of the night. Villains of a dark underworld full of death and decay, and that’s the way we should keep it. If they knew what their so-called underworld was really like they would find a way to invade. To turn our plentiful world into another polluted sidewalk. No, Annalise, I cannot risk their discovery, and seeking out this human male could be the very thing that leads to the end of everything we hold dear.”
Aurora felt her sister’s hand on her shoulder and turned her head to see Annalise’s sad smile reflected at her. They were so alike and so different. Aurora was a warrior to her soul, and Annalise would never be left behind in a fight but she also wouldn’t seek a warrior’s calling. She was far more sensitive than Aurora, something that might have stemmed from her ability to hear others’ thoughts and sense their desires. Annalise preferred talking things out and always saw the good in people, but Aurora couldn’t afford to be so optimistic. As the Maharani, leader of the Tanzahar otherwise known as the underworld, she was responsible for the lives of every soul that inhabited Tanzahar, and it was a responsibility she took very seriously. If someone or something threatened her people, or home, she wouldn’t spare a thought before she took them down.
Annalise’s blue eyes were glowing with kindness and understanding, overshadowing the sadness Aurora knew was hidden just beneath the surface. Still, Annalise had always been the one willing to overcome her sadness at the loss of their parents and hope for a future where they could join the human world again. Aurora wasn’t built like that. Forgiving the humans for the losses their people had sustained at human hands wasn’t something she was capable of. Forgiving humans for the loss of her parents—not if she lived a millennium.
“Sister,” Annalise spoke softly, “I know your pain. I too share in the pain you feel. The loss of our parents will never truly heal, but as long as you hold on to hatred in your heart it is only you who you’ll be hurting.”
Aurora let her eyes close briefly, taking a deep breath. She’d heard those words on repeat from Annalise for the past one hundred years. She’d heard the same from Didrik, the high Council leader, on more than one occasion. Easy for them to say. They hadn’t been there
to see what those monsters, known as men did. The things they did to her parents were unconscionable, yet, it was the people of her world who were supposed to be heathens. Huh!
Pulling her thoughts out of the past Aurora opened her eyes and looked back at her sister. “I don’t know what good could come of seeking out the human male, but you are correct, I must seek the answers to this vision. It is clear it will not leave me just because I choose to ignore it.”
Annalise pulled her into a hug. “You are doing what is right, my sister. Your visions have not failed our people yet. If they lead you to a human, then there is a good reason. You should not waste any more time.”
“Agreed.” Aurora walked to her wardrobe and began pulling on her usual attire of black leathers and armor. “Call on the high Council. If I am to enter the human world, they will need to be made aware.”
Annalise cringed. “They will fight this decision, sister. You mustn’t let them sway you from the path you’re meant to walk.”
Aurora fastened her boots before standing to face her sister once again. “They will fight it, yes, but they will head my decision. In the end this is not their decision, but mine.”
****
The council hall was dark, made of stone like the rest of the castle, it was lighted by candles hung from sconces every six inches along all four walls. The candles were illuminated by magic, and when Aurora walked down the hall to enter the room the candles lit up two-by-two lighting her way. In the center of the room was a large, ornate table. The legs and base of the table was made of solid oak and was stained such a dark brown it was nearly black. The table top was a large sheet of gray marble, three inches thick all around. Large wooden chairs, with unique carvings representing the species of the member who the seat belonged to, were lined up and down the sides of the table. At the head of the table was the Maharani’s chair. Like the others it was made of solid would, but the carvings on Aurora’s chair represented every species of Tanzahar. Carvings of witches, werewolves, gargoyles, and serpents lined the outer corners of the back of the chair. In the center was a large dragon with its massive wings spread wide, and its mouth open as it breathed fire. Of all the creatures Aurora was able to embody, the dragon was the strongest and her most comfortable form.
The council itself was made up of members from all the different species of Tanzahar, with Aurora as their leader sharing in all of their unique skills. They had witches, werewolves, vampires, dragons, gargoyles, and even a snake shifter, Silas, who was always a thorn in Aurora’s side.
“What could be so important at this ungodly hour?” Silas grumbled. Silas was a tall lanky man. Aurora often thought he resembled someone who’d been living on the streets, fighting for scraps to survive. He usually held his mouth pinched together with his nose in the air like someone who’d developed a hatred for everything good and beautiful in the world. Silas looked pissed off, but since he only had one facial expression, Aurora couldn’t tell how he felt about being forced to attend the unscheduled meeting so early in the day. She didn’t really give a shit either way. Her and Silas didn’t really see eye-to-eye on most, scratch that, on anything.
Gareth grunted something intelligible, but Aurora imagined it was something along the lines of an agreement with Silas’s sentiment. Gareth was only on the Council because of his werewolf lineage. Nothing about it appealed to the guy. He was a fierce warrior, something likely embellished by his volatile werewolf nature, but he really had no business in the Council. Luckily, this was something he agreed on, so he usually just showed up as it was his duty but remained quiet until it was time to set off into another battle where he could put his true strength to work killing the enemy.
Etienne walked in looking like she’d had a fashion entourage style her hair and makeup, and her dress looked like a gown that had come straight off of a fashion week runway. It was made of satin and lace, sinced in all the right places to highlight her best feminine features, and the brightest red you could imagine. The woman was a firecracker so it wasn’t surprising that red was her go to color on most occasions. Aurora suspected the witch used her powers to feed her vanity on a fairly regular basis. Luckily, Etienne’s need to portray physical perfection also translated into her work in magic. She was as powerful as any witch the Council had seen; her powers surpassed only by those Aurora possessed herself. Still, Etienne was one of the most level-headed members of the Council, and Aurora hoped her serenity would stay in place when she announced her intentions to find the human male and see where her vision would take her.
Beltran and Bertram, the conjoined gargoyles, were sticking to their normal routine of arguing among themselves. They were the only members of the council who did not have the ability to shift. It had always been assumed that the fact that they were born conjoined limited their abilities, thus preventing them from shifting out of their massive gargoyle forms. It certainly hadn’t limited them in a fight. They were incredibly strong, and their loyalty was something to be cherished, even if they were a pair of bickering siblings. Ordinarily their back-and-forth sibling banter amused Aurora, but there was no room for any humor in her mind in that moment. She needed to stay focused and their incessant bickering was a distraction she could not afford to entertain.
It was no surprise when Karlotta and Talea arrived several minutes after the rest of the Council. The human tale of vampires burning in the sun was a myth, but it was based in part on the truth. The sun had an adverse effect on vampires, like a human suffering from a severe allergy. They could survive it, but it was a painful journey to recovery. Precautions had to be taken when they were out during daylight hours. Because of this, they both arrived in robes which covered them from head to toe. Only their bright red eyes were left uncovered. In their robes, with those red orbs looking at you, they were quite the frightening sight.
Aurora stood, ready to begin the meeting, when three more bodies came shuffling through the door into the meeting hall. Well, shuffling was a bit of an understatement. Andros and Camille were warriors through and through, all the way down to their heavy footfalls which echoed their power and strength. Andros and Camille were both intimidating. Hundreds of years of fighting was evident in their muscular frames. Camille was tall and strong, but next to Andros everything looked a little dainty. He was seven-foot-tall even in his human form and was built like a tank which meant nobody could fit through a doorway while he was making his way through so Camille walked through the hall in front of him with Luka. Luka was another vital warrior in their army along with being Camille's twin brother. Luka and Camille walked around Aurora, standing directly to her left, while Andros covered her on the right. Aurora was happy to see the three of them, but they weren’t council members so she had not summoned them herself. Aurora looked at Camille with a raised eyebrow. "Annalise?"
Camille nodded. "Annalise."
As if she'd heard her name being spoken, because she probably did as a telepath, Annalise breezed into the room, looking around at everyone with a friendly smile on her face until her eyes landed on Silas. "You know, Silas, that kind of thinking is precisely why no one here takes your opinions seriously." Aurora had to fight to hold back her smile. Silas hated it more than anyone when Annalise listened to his thoughts, more than likely because he was usually thinking shit that put him in the hot seat with Aurora and the other council members.
Silas turned to face Annalise, his scowl more pronounced than a moment ago. "I am an elder here, and the second highly ranked member of this Council! It would do you well to speak to me with the respect that station commands.”
Aurora slammed a gloved fist on the table, her golden eyes glowing and narrowed at Silas. “And it would do you well to speak to a member of the royal family like you aim to exist for another night!”
"But, Aurora, she," Silas stuttered.
Aurora hit the table again, cutting him off. "She is my sister, and you will treat her just as you would me if you wish to remain in your post."
Silas's expres
sion changed for what Aurora could only imagine was the first time in his many centuries of life. He looked at her in shock, a brief show of fear flashed through his serpent eyes before he reigned it in and put his scowl back in place. "As you wish, Aurora."
"Maharani," she said.
"Excuse me?" Silas looked confused.
Aurora stood up straight and crossed her arms over her chest while she glared at him. "You shall address me as Maharani. Maybe addressing me formally for the foreseeable future will remind you of your place." Silas's jaw dropped, his gaping mouth making Aurora's fists clench with a desire to give him a good uppercut to remedy his current slack-jaw situation. To keep from following through, Aurora looked away, finally able to address the Council as a whole. "Now, there is a reason that we've called all of you hear so early today. I've had the same vision repeating in my mind for five days now. It is time that I follow through to see what this vision is trying to teach me."
Everyone just stared at Aurora like they didn't know what the big deal was. This was not the first vision she'd experienced. If anything, they were probably confused as to why she would call an emergency meeting to tell them she was going to follow the vision's lead. Normally, Aurora was more act first, tell the Council about it later. It drove Silas crazy, which was only more of an incentive to keep doing things her way in Aurora's opinion. This vision was different, however, and she wanted people to know what she was up to before she just went out and started spending time with humans, leaving nobody the wiser about where she was or what might be happening to her.
Etienne was the first to voice her concern that there was something more to Aurora's statement. “What aren’t you telling us, dear?”
Aurora glanced at Annalise, who true to Annalise fashion, spilled the beans on the recurring star of Aurora’s vision. “It’s a human!”
“What?” Etienne had a look of shock overtake her beautiful face. Hell, they all did.